Posts Tagged ‘Germany’

Survivors push cardinal to refuse Federal honour

Thursday, April 29th, 2021

An outcry from abuse survivor advocates has seen Munich and Freising’s archbishop refuse the German equivalent of knighthood. Cardinal Reinhard Marx says he wrote to German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday, declining to accept Germany’s only federal decoration. He was scheduled to receive the Federal Cross of Merit at Berlin’s Bellevue Palace today, April 30. Read more

Head of German Catholic bishops will not deny Protestants Communion

Monday, March 1st, 2021
protestant holy communion

The president of the German Catholic bishops’ conference said he will continue to give Holy Communion to Protestants who ask for it. Bishop Georg Bätzing said it was necessary to respect the “personal decision of conscience” of those seeking to receive Communion. CNA Deutsch reported that Bätzing responded to a question about a controversial proposal Read more

Over 1.5 million German Catholics reiterate urgent need for change

Thursday, November 19th, 2020

Groups representing over 1.5 million German Catholics have again said there is an urgent need for change in the Church. The Church must change if it is to reverse its loss of credibility, they say. “Constructive dialogue and debate on necessary reforms are absolutely essential” at this point in the life of the Church. In Read more

Women pushing for equality

Monday, October 19th, 2020
women

Monika Schmelter is one of the women who crisscrosses the country to press for equal rights in the Catholic Church. The reason, she points out is that people are leaving the church in droves — including her own children. Many women share her experience of seeing their children turn their backs on the church. In Read more

Streamlining formation of priests considered

Thursday, July 16th, 2020

The formation of priests is under the spotlight in Germany because of an ongoing reduction in candidates for the priesthood. Where there were 594 candidates in 2011, this has whittled to just 211 at present, says Heinrich Timmerevers, Bishop of Dresden-Meissen. The decline in candidate numbers has had Germany’s Catholic bishops considering ways of streamlining Read more

Germany’s synodal way gets the nod from pope

Monday, June 29th, 2020

The German Catholic Church’s synodal way has been approved by Pope Francis, says German bishops’ conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing . After meeting with Francis on Saturday, Bätzing said he felt “strengthened by the intensive exchange with the Holy Father to continue on the path we have taken. “The pope appreciates this project, which he Read more

Over 100 people contract COVID-19 at Church

Monday, May 25th, 2020

Dozens of people who attended at a Baptist church service in Frankfurt on 10 May are being sought by German authorities as they may have been exposed to the coronavirus (COVID-19). So far more than 107 people tested positive for the virus, six of whom have been taken to hospital. Those at the service followed Read more

Germany’s churches open but with restrictions

Monday, May 4th, 2020

Many of Germany’s churches have reopened as the country begins to ease the past six weeks’ coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions. Everyone attending services must wear masks and stay apart from each other. No singing is permitted. As well as extra hygiene requirements, members of the congregation have to sit in designated seats 1.5 meters apart. All Read more

German bishops want to modernise the church. Are they getting too far ahead of Pope Francis?

Monday, November 4th, 2019

Among those who believe the Catholic Church must modernise to save itself from perpetual decline, some of the staunchest advocates are church leaders here in Germany. Some German bishops have spoken in favour of abandoning the celibacy requirement for priests and vaulting women into leadership roles now off-limits. Some have urged updating the religion’s stern Read more

Fewer Catholics but more income for German church

Thursday, August 15th, 2019

The German Church’s income rose by 3.3 per cent to a record 6.64 billion euros in 2018, despite the massive exodus of 216, 078 German Catholics in the same year. The figures were published in a bishops’ conference brochure, “The Catholic Church in Germany: Facts and Figures 2018/19”, presented in Bonn on 8 August. “This Read more